Thinking about a career in sustainable enterprise? Each year the Aspen Institute ranks MBA programs in their Beyond Grey Pinstripes edition on the schools’ ability to provide curriculum, research and careers while looking at the triple bottom line. This list continues to grow, but according to the 2010 rankings, candidates looking at MBA programs that…
MBA Applicants: What McKinsey (and HBS) Wants
They were looking for four things. I didn’t know until I’d made it to the third and last round of interviews, but McKinsey and Company, the strategy consulting firm perennially ranked among the top “dream” employers of MBA students, was looking for four specific qualities in the candidates they hired. By my calculations, McKinsey made…
Stanford GSB 2011 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips.
UPDATE- THE TIPS FOR STANFORD‘S 2012 MBA APPLICATION ARE NOW ONLINE- Please post questions or comments to the new post. This Stanford GSB 2011 MBA Application tip post is one of a series of posts providing MBA application and essay advice for applicants to top MBA programs around the world. You can access the entire series at…
What MBA Programs Should You Apply To Next Season?
It’s late February, already in the ebb of the current MBA admissions season. As such, it’s the perfect time for people considering applying next season to break out of hibernation and start tackling a part of the process that is often shortchanged: school selection. In ten-plus years of MBA admissions consulting I have found that…
Stanford Wins First Place for Forbes’ “The Most Satisfied MBAs”
Forbes took its survey findings from “The Best Business Schools” and compiled a second rankings report: “The Most Satisfied MBAs.” Stanford won top slot for both rankings. It is #1 for providing the best return on investment for its graduates, as well as for churning out MBAs who are extremely satisfied with their current jobs…
New “No-Co-Signer” Loans Aid Foreign MBA Students
According to BusinessWeek, Chicago Booth, Northwestern University, Rochester’s Simon School, and UCLA Anderson are among the six universities and 15 graduate programs that have joined the Affiliated Loan Program for Students (ALPS), a solution to the international student loan crisis. In 2008, just as admissions season was approaching, a few major international student loan lenders…
Beyond Grey Pinstripes Ranking of MBA Programs
The Aspen Institute published last week its biannual ranking of MBA programs, “Beyond Grey Pinstripes.” This ranking ignores admissions criteria and abandons ROI. Through surveys of 149 participating schools, it attempts to rank the programs according to their “social impact management” or addressing of social, environmental or ethical topics. The goal: “spotlight innovative full-time MBA…
MBA Essay Tip: Responding to Criticism
2012 MBA Applicant posted recently that thanks to an upcoming employment review he will have material for the question, “What is the toughest criticism you have ever received and what did you learn?” While we’re glad that 2012 MBA Applicant has material, I thought you (and maybe even 2012 MBA Applicant) may want tips on…
Earlier Round 1 MBA Application Deadlines/Notification Dates
Several top MBA programs have released their 2009-2010 application deadlines and essay questions, and I am noticing an interesting trend for those programs that have three rounds. Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford have all moved their Round 1 deadline to the first week in October and their Round 1 notification date to mid December. 2009-2010 Round…
What Does It Mean to Write from the “Inside Out”?
After devoting many days and countless revisions to his 250-word Stanford GSB Reliance Fellowship essay, the blogger at MBAdreamz concludes: “The mantra for writing essays should be bringing one’s ‘INSIDE OUT.’ The more one knows and reveals (about himself) in the essays, the more comfortable and confident he would be with the essays.” Having worked…
How Business Schools Have Failed Business
Business school deans and educational thought leaders are doing a lot of soul-searching concerning the role and culpability of graduate business schools in the economic downturn. Dean Robert Bruner of Darden on April 5 wrote on Twitter “Controversy over the role of B-schools in the crisis. Did they warn strongly enough about the risks of toxic…
US News Grad Rankings Are Out!
The US News just released its 2009 Grad School Rankings. I’m going to list the top ten for business school, law school, and medical school (research) and provide links to the ranking methodology for each category. For other graduate specialties, please visit the US News site. Business School Rankings and methodology 1. Harvard2. Stanford3. Northwestern Kellogg…
7 Signposts to Differences Among MBA Programs
After reading “Musings on Kellogg’s Differentiators” by Managing Magic, who describes well a few distinguishing characteristics at Kellogg, I decided to explore the factors MBA applicants should examine to uncover the differences between programs. Researching these elements will help MBA applicants as they start their school research. They may also be worth a second look…
MBA News Round Up
The Job Market: Forbes’ “It’s A Good Time to Go To A B-Level B-School” reports that in today’s economy, job opportunities may be fewer and farther between for Wharton and Harvard graduates than for graduates of second tier MBA programs. Deanne Fuehne, director of the career management center at Rice University’s graduate school for business…
MBA Admissions: No-Cosigner Loans for International Students
There has been a lot of talk about the sudden dearth of financing options for international students who would like to attend American MBA programs. Some applicants are questioning whether to apply if they will have no way of paying for the degree. I decided to research the situation and find out just how bad…
Accepted Welcomes Natalie Grinblatt
It is with great pleasure that I welcome Natalie Grinblatt to Accepted’s staff. Natalie previously served as: Assistant Dean at Arizona State University’s W P Carey School of Management. Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Cornell’s Johnson School Director of MBA Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at the University of Michigan (where she also…
Approaching short essays
“I want to explain how lacrosse involves determination, sacrifice, never giving up, never losing confidence, grit, unselfishness, quick thinking on the fly, looking out for others, etc.” These were my client’s initial wishes for his 250-word Columbia “greatest passion” essay. My response: “Sorry! That’s too much… And even if you could fit all these points…
The Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship
All Indian students considering applying to the Stanford MBA program should check out the new Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. The scholarship covers everything for up to 5 Indian students to attend Stanford GSB, and the top 50 finalists for the Fellowship will even receive a break on applying – taking the GMAT and submitting Stanford’s application…
BW Interview with Stanford’s Derrick Bolton
BW has published an informative and lengthy interview with Stanford’s Director of Admissions Derrick Bolton. If you are a Stanford applicant either preparing for a R1 interview or drafting and editing your R2 essays, this really is a must-read. At the same time, while I strongly recommend this interview to Stanford applicants and find much…
Employment News for Grads
There have been a few fascinating articles this week focused on job opportunities for recent graduates of college and various graduate programs. Here is a brief run-down: "Best Places to Launch a Career" is a BusinessWeek Special Report surveying hiring trends for Generation Y and "ranking" the best employers. Included are pieces about the Big…
